I am your typical housewife living in high maintenance suburbia. I have a handsome husband, 2 kids and a flock of pet chickens. I try and feed my family with $100 a month. With the help of coupons, gardening and bartering I am able to squeeze the most out of our grocery budget and still manage to have a little fun along the way.

Gardening in New England – The Final Harvest of the Year

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosureBy Mavis Butterfield on October 17, 2018 · 37 Comments

Yesterday the HH and I spent the afternoon in the yard getting things ready for the freezing temps that are headed our way. Apparently you have to blow out your sprinklers around here {who knew?} and so after watching a few youtube videos, the HH managed to do the job so we didn’t have to shell out $200 for a pro to do it. I guess we’ll find out in the spring if he did it correctly. 😉

While he was busy with the sprinklers, I harvested vegetables! There weren’t too many beets left in the ground but I think there will be plenty for our Thanksgiving feast and a few roasted vegetable salads this winter. Next year I plan to order enough seed to plant about 10 times the amount of beets we grew this year.

The remaining French Breakfast radishes, Hakurei turnips, and carrots were pulled up as well, and if you are looking for a sweet and DELICIOUS turnip to grow next year, you should give the Hakurei turnips a try. They’re really more like a radish and I ate all of ours raw.

Towards the middle of September I was too busy with my poision ivy itch fest that by the time I got around to picking our last bit of beans in the lower garden, they were well past their prime.

But hey now, check this out…. I let enough beans go that I have PLENTY of seeds to use in my garden next year.

And those beans I started in containers by the garage and then the HH moved over to the wood pile and I totally forgot about? Well they did just fine. See, so being lazy can sometimes work in your favor. 🙂 🙂 🙂

The best pepper I grew this year… Round of Hungary. Give it a try next year, I think you’ll like it.

All the spuds are up.

Including the 50 sweet potato slips I planted towards the end of May.

I didn’t end up with as many as I had hoped for {only 37.2 pounds!} but next year I will be better prepared. There were sooo many 1/2″ long and skinny roots that I am convinced that had I mulched heavily, or covered the slips with black plastic {to retain heat} I would have an enormous harvest. Oh well, when it comes to gardening, sometimes you just have to figure stuff out the hard way.

Keep calm and garden on…

~Mavis

The backyard vegetable garden tally of 2018:

Beets 27 pounds 11 ounces Done!

Blueberries 32 pounds 2 ounces Done!

Corn 14 pounds 9 ounces Done!

Cucumbers 63 pounds 6 ounces Done!

Green Beans 3 pounds 14 ounces Done!

Green Onion/Scallions 13 ounces

Lettuce 1 pound 8 ounce Done!

Onions 8 pounds 14 ounces Done!

Peppers 5 pound 9 ounces Done!

Potatoes 26 pound 10 ounces Done!

Radishes 1 Pound 8 ounces Done!

Sugar Snap Peas 1 pound 2 ounces Done!

Sweet Potatoes 37 pounds 2 ounces

Swiss Chard 13 pounds 6 ounces

Tomatoes 181 pounds 15 ounces {AWESOME!} Done!

Turnips 9 pounds 9 ounces Done!

Winter Squash/Pumpkins 85 pounds 15 ounces

Zucchini 7 pounds 11 ounces Done!

Herbs

Basil 1 pound 13 ounces

Chives 1 ounces

Mint 4 ounce

Oregano 13 ounces

Total Food Harvested in 2018 521 Pounds 15 Ounces

Total Eggs Collected in 2018 62 eggs!!! {with 7 hens} 3 {the ladies are laying and they are just 22 weeks old}

Money Collected at the Vegetable Stand in 2018 $264.76 Done!

Total spent growing 521 pounds 15 ounces of food this year $811.00 {about $1.55 a pound so far!} My goal every year is to get this down to $1.00 a pound or less by the end of the season. This year though, because of the move and some higher than normal start up costs, it’s a bit higher. What did I spend my garden money on this year you ask? Well, $399 on Mannyand the rest on seeds, compost, grow light bulbsand small garden tools/supplies.

Comments

You can stick a some of your extra skinny sweet potatoes in pots in the house, keep them lighted and watered, and make your own plants to harden off and put out in the springtime – you could even make slips from the vines if you cut them and stick them in water (rooting hormone could help).

I also think that you hit the $1.00 per pound mark. You should not include in the cost the total amount of Manny and your other tools that will be used multi year. I would take Manny and divide cost for 5 years as well as the other tools that you had to buy. If grow lights are multi year then divide that cost over a total of say 5 years – if that is how long they might last. All I am saying is that some of the costs that you incurred this year should be split over multiple years. Or if you take the total cost this year, then next year and the following years will be significantly lower. Love your adventures!

Wow, that’s fantastic! I’m glad you hit tour 500 lb mark! If you use straw in your coop and run, you should have lots to mulch the potatoes with next year. I’m super excited that by adding chickens to mine this year, I already have so much compost cooking in the garden for next year, that alone is going to help with weed control and I plant my potatoes under a thick layer of compost, mulch hay and straw. (We have the old mulch hay and I lay it down super thick so not too many weeds pop up from it ). Anyway, you always keep me inspired to keep doing what I do better. Thanks.

I do love to hear you talk about new things you are learning as a new person to New England. I guess there are a lot of think we New Enlander just think everyone should know, we have done them so long. You make me remember how shocked I was that the ground freezes here. I move here from South Carolina in 1973, with a new husband and tiny baby. . I had so much to learn!!!

congratulations on your garden totals. I would like to total the produce in my garden next year. I had to smile since today you posted pictures in just a flannel shirt while this summer you were bundled up in a big jacket.

I was curious how you’re going about the New England learning curve (prepping for winter, etc.). Are you just reading articles & googling? I’m hoping you’ve made some friendships of long-time residents who are taking you under their wing and mentoring you.
Also, does one need to have a cold storage to over-winter your harvest of root veggies? I’m in Georgia and wonder how I’d be able to keep things long term or if I’d have to put them in the freezer. Great job on your first year!

You did fabulously! Just think, you were starting from scratch. I have heard that you might want to plant each potato with some leaves in each hole, b/c that would give them some softer space to grow, or add some compost to each hole. Perhaps they were small b/c the soil was a bit compact????

We ere just getting ready to harvest our sweet potatoes whick look like they have done well. But, in our suburb of Dallas, we have had about 11 inches of rain in the last week. Absolutely shocking for here. We are afraid they are rotting in the ground. Not sure when we will get in there to harvest them. More rain on the way. Yikes.

Can’t wait to see what all you add next year.

Please tell your HH he is doing a super job as farm assistant, chicken shed builder, cook, etc. So impressive!!!! My husband has been talking about becoming the chief cook some day when he retires. Thanks, HH, for your example.

Congrats on making your 500-pound goal. Taking into account money from the farm stand, your true net cost for this year’s garden is only $1.05/lb. So with Manny and other gear already paid for this year plus the benefit of first-year lessons under your belt, next year’s expenses and thus net cost should be minimal! That’s so EXCITING!!! Btw, chicken coop looks gorgeous. Ladies housed in such lovely digs should become EGG MACHINES by the time longer days roll back around next spring.

We have a much smaller yard, but your totals inspired me to keep track of my first year of successful gardening. We ended up with about 40 pounds of produce and hoping for some more from my fall garden (lettuces and beets). Not sure that I’ll ever get to 500 pounds, but you’re inspiring me to aim for 100 pounds for 2019. Hope you can enjoy the literal fruits of your labors and that you’re not too sore after all of that digging!

Well, you passed your goal and net year will be even better! Congratulations!!!
i got my first egg Sunday, but only one girl (I have 5) is laying right now. Its all good. I am so excited! My Olive Egger should be next in line, but we’ll see. Good job!

I don’t know if this is useful, but last year we had 26 tomato plants (2 cherry) and got about 90 lbs, and it was a decent to good year weather-wise. This year we had 32 plants but more cherry varieties (maybe 9), and we lost lots to exploding in heavy rains, so I don’t know how our total would compare.

Actually, you will most likely always have long and skinny sweet potatoes. They keep growing and sending out new roots. I am in south Georgia and our ground does not freeze. I always have volunteers from the little pieces that break off.

I’m inspired by your sweet potatoes! Ours have never done that well, but I think I have a better spot for them now, so maybe I’ll try again. Another option is to get the Vardaman variety which is container-friendly. You could start them in containers in the greenhouse and then move outside (or back in) as needed. That way, you could plant earlier and go past first frost. They are the best I’ve ever tasted.

I’m also following the learning curve. I always wondered how you had so few bug and extreme temperature issues. I had no idea those issues are East Coast things!

I’m sure you have received good counsel from your neighbors about prepping for winter, and since I too am in New England, I want to step up as yet another ‘neighbor’ and remind you about your gutters. If your house or out buildings have gutters, be SURE to keep them absolutely leaf free once the leaves are all down and certainly before the first snowfall. Even if the gutters have covers, peek under the covers, block the downspout (so the debris doesn’t get washed down the downspout and clog up down there) and flush them with a hose. If you don’t do this going into a snowfall, you can have ice damming. Snow piles up on the roof, the sun melts some of it, then it freezes up in the gutters overnight, expands and creeps up under the shingles, only to melt again the next day and leak into your house. I also suggest you also buy a roof rake, which is basically an upside down snow shovel on a telescoping handle that you pull toward you to remove the last three or four feet of snow all around the roof. This prevents the whole problem…as long as those gutters are clear!

Can I ask how you will store your veg so that it is still fresh by Thanksgiving? In particular your sweet potatoes? I don’t think I could persuade them to grow here in Scotland but I’d like to give them a try. Everyone told me I’d never be able to grow sweetcorn here and I’ve had brilliant sweetcorn every year for the past 3 years now! I like a challenge lol. However I’m not sure of the best way to store things so any advice would be welcome. Thanks. Plus I’d like to add to the congratulations of other commentors. You did so well to grow so much particularly when you only moved there in the Spring! x

And while I’m at it, thanks for the information about what chickens like to eat. I’ve never thought about raising chickens, but a friend from church has about seven in the city. When I found some volunteer acorn squashes in the back yard I took the small ones to her for her chickens. She was so appreciative that she brings me eggs every couple of weeks! Perhaps I can talk her out of some of her “compost enhancement” this winter as well! LOL!

You have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving…so many lessons learned, challenges bravely faced, and hearts warmed! May your winter be just long enough to give you and the HH rest, laughter and the itch to try again in 2019. Thanks for taking all of us along for the ride. I’ve certainly learned a lot!

Thank you Jude! And yes I would ask your friend about “compost enhancement” I’m sure she’d love to give you some. 🙂 I need to go fill the chicken run with leaves so the girls can work on breaking them up for me so I have plenty of compost next spring as well.